There are various types of hurricane shutters that are attached to the outside of buildings to cover openings in the structure, such as windows and doors, to provide protection from high winds and debris. Usually, these shutters are constructed of rigid materials which will withstand significant impact, by wind or objects, and maintain their integrity. In order for the shutters to be effective, all the openings in the entire structure must be covered. The shutters, themselves are expensive and require time and skill to install or remove.
Flexible materials, such as netting, tarpaulins and blankets have been used to protect and anchor vehicles, mobile homes and other shelters. These materials are also placed on the outside of the objects to which they are attached and should cover the entire object. An example of such materials is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,794 to Sporta. While these materials do not significantly contribute to the structural integrity of the enclosed object, they do provide protection from flying debris. With these flexible materials, it is important that they are anchored in such a manner that the deflection caused by the wind speed does not exceed the distance between the material and the enclosed structure. In such an instance, the enclosed structure could sustain damage or breakage without penetration of debris through the flexible materials. Further, if the flexible materials are anchored over large spans without support, chafing may occur in the materials between the anchoring mechanism and/or the protected structure.
Because both the rigid shutters and the flexible materials reduce or eliminate the ingress and egress from the protected structures, they are not normally deployed. Therefore, a warning should be given which allows enough time to deploy the protective devices. As has been demonstrated over and over, forecasting the onset of hazardous weather is notoriously unreliable. Sometimes, because of the vagaries of the weather and the forecasting, there is not enough time before the storm hits to completely install such systems.
Thus what is lacking in the art is a inexpensive protective barrier that can be included on or inside a portion of a structure or quickly deployed on or within a portion of a structure for protecting the occupants and the property.